​Sven Ulreich is a 30-year-old goalkeeper for FC Bayern München. Ulreich was born on August 3, 1988 in Schorndorf, West Germany and spent his youth career playing for TSV Lichtenwald from 1993-1994, TSV Schornbach from 1994-1998, and VfB Stuttgart from 1998-2007. His senior career continued with Stuttgart’s reserve squad from 2007-2009, and the senior squad from 2008-2015, where he made 176 appearances. Ulreich transferred to his current club prior to the 2015-16 season, and featured regularly during Manuel Neuer’s injury in the 2017-18 season. Ulreich was also a member of Germany’s U16, U19, and U21 teams

​Bayern suffered its first defeat of the season on Friday with a 0:2 loss against Hertha in the Olympiastadion. Hertha’s first goal came when referee Marco Fritz saw Jerome Boateng foul Salomon Kalou, who scored on the ensuing penalty kick in the 23rd minute. That goal was followed just before the half ended when Ondrej Duda gave the hosts a 2:0 lead going into halftime. Bayern did have several near misses in the second half, but were held by Hertha goalkeeper Thomas Kraft. This was Hertha’s first win over Bayern in 15 matches and the victory ties them with Bayern in points at the top of the table going into Saturday’s contests. One of the key contests on Saturday occurs when Gladbach travels to Wolfsburg, when Gladbach will have a chance to move to the top of the table. Wolfsburg defeated Schalke and Leverkusen to start the season, but are winless in their last 3 games, while Gladbach lost to Hertha last weekend and defeated Frankfurt on Wednesday night. The Wolves have more Bundesliga wins over Gladbach than any other club, and haven’t lost at home to Gladbach in 15 years. Gladbach are currently playing without captain Lars Stindl, but may see the return of defender Tony Jantschke, who has been sidelined by a pelvis problem. For Gladbach trainer Dieter Hecking, the return to the Volkswagen Arena may be bittersweet: Hecking led Wolfsburg to a first DFB Cup and Supercup title in 2015. Also on Saturday, FC Schalke 04 will still be looking for their first points of the season when they host Mainz. This is only the second time in Schalke’s history when they have opened a season with 5 losses, but they have won their last 4 Bundesliga matches against Mainz. Mainz have also only won once in 12 trips to Schalke in the Bundesliga. Hoffenheim head coach Julian Nagelsmann will face future employers RB Leipzig on Saturday. Nagelsmann officially takes over at Leipzig next summer, so the club is being steered in the meantime by sporting director Ralf Rangnick, who incidentally led Hoffenheim into the Bundesliga for the first time in 2008. Leipzig are unbeaten in 4 Bundesliga matches since losing 1:4 to Borussia Dortmund on the opening weekend, while Hoffenheim’s 7 points so far this season just edges them into the top half of the table. Looking ahead to Sunday’s matches: all 4 teams playing on Sunday sit in the bottom half of the table and are separated by no more than 5 points

​Kilian Jakob is a 20-year-old left-back for FC Augsburg. Jakob was born on January 25th, 1998 in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany, and spent his youth career playing football for FC Dreistern-Neutrudering and 1860 München. His senior career continued at 1860 starting in 2016, where he scored 1 goal in 14 appearances for the senior and reserve squads. He joined Augsburg in 2017 and has made numerous appearances for the club’s reserve squad. Jakob also made 2 appearances for Germany’s U18 squad in 2015. Jakob was sidelined early in 2018 with a broken left kneecap suffered in a Regionalliga match

​Paco Alcacer made his debut with Borussia Dortmund on Friday and his goal at the 88th minute sealed Dortmund’s 3:1 victory over visiting Eintracht Frankfurt. Dortmund’s other goals came from Abdou Diallo in the 36th minute and Marius Wolf in the 72nd minute. Frankfurt’s lone goal came in the 68th minute, tying the match momentarily, when Sebastien Haller converted a deflected cross from Danny da Costa. Haller’s goal, incidentally, continued his streak of scoring on every matchday so far this season. Marius Wolf, on the other hand, scored his first Bundesliga goal as a Frankfurt player against Dortmund, and his first goal as a Dortmund player came against Frankfurt. The win places Dortmund in first place in the league going into Saturday’s matches, and Dortmund are unbeaten in their last 25 home matches played on Friday nights. A key match on Saturday occurs when Hertha Berlin travels to nearby VfL Wolfsburg. The 2 clubs are currently tied in points near the top of the table, and a win for either side could put them in first place, depending on the outcome of Saturday’s contest between Bayern and Leverkusen. A key player for Wolfsburg will be center-back John Brooks, and Saturday’s match will be his second meeting against his former club - the first was last year’s 3:3 draw. Brooks was born in Berlin and made 130 senior appearances for Hertha before transferring to Wolfsburg in July 2017. Hertha have already defeated Nürnberg and Schalke this season and are anticipating the potential return from injuries of captain Vedad Ibisevic, Jordan Torunarigha, Marvin Plattenhardt, and Davie Selke. The historical odds favor Hertha on Saturday: Wolfsburg have never won 3 consecutive games at the start of the season, and Hertha are unbeaten in their last 5 matches against the Wolves. The later game on Saturday will feature USA internationals Fabian Johnson and Weston McKennie on opposing sides, when Borussia Mönchengladbach host FC Schalke 04. Gladbach are also unbeaten so far this season, while Schalke have failed to register a single point. Schalke’s Guido Burgstaller was Schalke’s top scorer last season, with 11 goals, but has failed to hit the net in all contests this season. A win for Gladbach would give them their best start since 2011-12. Looking ahead to Sunday, Freiburg will host nearby Stuttgart, and both clubs are still looking for their first points this season.

Willkommen!﻿

Welcome to the Philly BFC website! Keep checking back here for weekly Bundesliga viewing opportunities at our Brauhaus Schmitz headquarters, updated results, and entry forms for our new season-long Tippspiel game. Make sure to click around the site for our Calendar, trivia questions, and photos of our viewing events. TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!

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About Philly BFC

Several hardcore Bundesliga supporters in Philadelphia decided to come together to create the Philly Bundesliga Fan Coalition. We watch Bundesliga at Brauhaus Schmitz every Saturday during the season and we hope our passion for Bundesliga is infectious enough to persuade you, and many more, to join us at the 'Haus for great beer and entertaining Fußball.